Brisbane, Queensland — Travel Tips
Getting There By Air
Brisbane Airport
Tel: (07) 3406 3000.
Website: www.bne.com.au
Brisbane Airport is located northeast of the city, 13km (8 miles) from the CBD. It provides direct flights to every capital city in Australia as well as destinations in Asia, Europe, the Pacific Islands, North America, and New Zealand.
Airport facilities include ATMs, currency exchange, conference rooms (tel: (07) 3406 3066), restaurants, a multi-denominational prayer room, a tourist information desk, several duty-free shops and car hire from Avis, Budget,Europcar, Hertz, Red Spot and Thrifty.
The AirTrain (tel: (07) 3216 3308; www.airtrain.com.au) runs a speedy link between the Domestic and International Terminals, and Central Railway Station in the city (journey time - 22 minutes). Coachtrans (tel: (07) 3238 9700; www.coachtrans.com.au) operates services between Brisbane Airport and Brisbane Transit Center and to the door of all CBD hotels, meeting all major flights seven days a week. Other services are available to the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. A taxi to the city center costs around A$36.
Getting There By Road
There are five major roads into and out of the Brisbane metropolitan area, numbered M1 to M5. The main north-south road is the M1, which connects the Pacific Highway in the south with the Bruce Highway in the north. When traveling from the south from Sydney and the Gold Coast, the Pacific Highway becomes the South East Freeway (M3) and runs right into the city center.
Emergency breakdown services
s: Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) (tel: 131 905, in Australia only).
Getting There By Rail
Roma Street Transit Center is the main station for long-distance trains while Central Station on Ann Street, opposite Anzac Square, is the station for the Citytrain rail network (tel: (07) 3606 5555; www.citytrain.com.au), for Southeast Queensland and the Gold Coast.
QR Traveltrain (tel: (07) 3235 7322 or 1300 131 722, in Australia only; www.traveltrain.com.au) runs services to and from Cairns, via Townsville and Rockhampton. CountryLink (tel: 132 232, in Australia only; www.countrylink.info) runs a daily express passenger train (XPT) between Sydney and Brisbane. The Queensland Rail Travel Center (tel: 131 617, in Australia only; www.qr.com.au) in Central Station can provide information and reservations.
Getting Around in Brisbane, Queensland
Public Transport
TransLink (tel: 131 230, in Australia only; www.transinfo.qld.gov.au) operates an extensive network throughout Brisbane including bus, rail and ferry and City CATs (short for catamarans). City CATs operate from around 0600 until 0100 every day. The Loop is a free bus that circles the CBD, on weekdays only. A zone system is in place, but the CBD and most of the inner suburbs are in zone one. Daily tickets are available, allowing unlimited travel on buses, trains and ferries within a certain zone. Off-peak tickets are also available. NightLink buses, trains and flat-fare taxi services operate late on Fridays and Saturdays to destinations across Brisbane.
Taxis
The major cab operators in Brisbane are Black & White Taxis (tel: 133 222, in Australia only) and Yellow Cab Co. (tel: 131 924, in Australia only).
Car Hire
Rental car companies include: Avis (tel: 136 333, in Australia only; www.avis.com.au); Budget (tel: 1300 362 848, in Australia only; www.budget.com.au), Europcar (tel: 1300 131 390, in Australia only; www.europcar.com.au), Hertz (tel: 133 039, in Australia only; www.hertz.com.au) and Thrifty (tel: 1300 367 227, in Australia only; www.thrifty.com.au).
Bicycle Hire
Brisbane is very cycle friendly, with plenty of bikeways across the city for easy travel. More than 27km (16.5 miles) of award-winning bicycle pathways line both sides of the river east and west of the city center. Gardens Cycle Hire in the City Botanic Gardens, Alice Street Main Gate (tel: 0408 003 198; www.gardens-cycle-hire.com) offers bike hire and will even deliver a bike to your hotel. It also provides free cycle maps of the major scenic cycle pathways.
